Marij Pregelj (8 August 1913 – 18 March 1967) was a Slovene painter, considered one of the key figures in Slovene painting in the second half of the 20th century. Pregelj was born in

Kranj Kranj (, ) is the List of cities and towns in Slovenia, fourth-largest city in Slovenia and the largest urban center of the traditional region of Upper Carniola (northwestern Slovenia) and the Slovene Alps. It is located approximately northwest o ...

in 1913 and was the son of the Slovene writer and playwright

Ivan Pregelj Ivan Pregelj (27 October 1883 – 30 January 1960) was a Slovene writer, playwright, poet, and critic. Life Pregelj was born to a tailor's family in Most na Soči (at that time called Sveta Lucija). His father died while Pregelj was still a chi ...

. He studied art at the Zagreb Academy of Fine Arts from 1932 to 1936. He was known for his oil paintings, mostly landscapes, still lifes, and portraits, and also for his illustrations, most notably those for the 1950 and 1951 editions of Anton Sovre's translation of

Homer Homer (; , ; possibly born ) was an Ancient Greece, Ancient Greek poet who is credited as the author of the ''Iliad'' and the ''Odyssey'', two epic poems that are foundational works of ancient Greek literature. Despite doubts about his autho ...

Iliad The ''Iliad'' (; , ; ) is one of two major Ancient Greek epic poems attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest extant works of literature still widely read by modern audiences. As with the ''Odyssey'', the poem is divided into 24 books and ...

and

Odyssey The ''Odyssey'' (; ) is one of two major epics of ancient Greek literature attributed to Homer. It is one of the oldest surviving works of literature and remains popular with modern audiences. Like the ''Iliad'', the ''Odyssey'' is divi ...

. He won the

Levstik Award The Levstik Award () is a literary award in Slovenia awarded for achievements in children's literature. It has been bestowed since 1949 by the Mladinska Knjiga Publishing House, making it the first literary award established by a Slovene publishin ...

for his illustrations three times: in 1949 for his illustrations for France Bevk's collection of stories ''Otroška leta'' (My Childhood Years), in 1957 for

Jack London John Griffith London (; January 12, 1876 – November 22, 1916), better known as Jack London, was an American novelist, journalist and activist. A pioneer of commercial fiction and American magazines, he was one of the first American authors t ...

's ''

White Fang ''White Fang'' is a novel by American author Jack London (1876–1916) about a wild wolfdog's journey to domestication in Yukon Territory and the Northwest Territories during the 1890s Klondike Gold Rush. First serialized in ''Outing'' magazin ...

'' (Slovene title: ''Beli očnjak''), and in 1959 for Hemingway's ''

The Old Man and the Sea ''The Old Man and the Sea'' is a 1952 novella by the American author Ernest Hemingway. Written between December 1950 and February 1951, it was the last major fictional work Hemingway published during his lifetime. It tells the story of Santiag ...

'' (Slovene title: ''Starec in morje''). He won the

Prešeren Award The Prešeren Award (), also called the Grand Prešeren Award (), is the highest decoration in the field of artistic and in the past also scientific creation in Slovenia. It is awarded each year by the Prešeren Fund () to two eminent Slovene art ...

twice, in 1958 for his

mosaic A mosaic () is a pattern or image made of small regular or irregular pieces of colored stone, glass or ceramic, held in place by plaster/Mortar (masonry), mortar, and covering a surface. Mosaics are often used as floor and wall decoration, and ...

at the Worker's Union building in

Trbovlje Trbovlje (; ''Leksikon občin kraljestev in dežel zastopanih v državnem zboru,'' vol. 4: ''Štajersko''. 1904. Vienna: C. Kr. Dvorna in Državna Tiskarna, p. 58.) is Slovenia's eleventh-largest town, located in the traditional province of Styria ...

and in 1964 for an exhibition of his paintings in the

Museum of Modern Art The Museum of Modern Art (MoMA) is an art museum located in Midtown Manhattan, New York City, on 53rd Street (Manhattan), 53rd Street between Fifth Avenue, Fifth and Sixth Avenues. MoMA's collection spans the late 19th century to the present, a ...

in Ljubljana the previous year.Slovenian Ministry of Culture, complete list of the Grand Prešeren Awards recipients
In 1969 he was also the first recipient of the

Jakopič Award The Jakopič Award, also known as the Rihard Jakopič Award ( or ''Nagrada Riharda Jakopiča'') is an art award in Slovenia awarded each year for achievements in the fine arts children's literature. It has been bestowed since 1969 by the Academy of ...

for painting. From December 2017 to May 2018, a

retrospective exhibition A retrospective (from Latin ', "look back"), generally, is a look back at events that took place, or works that were produced, in the past. As a noun, ''retrospective'' has specific meanings in software development, popular culture, and the arts. ...

of Pregelj's oeuvre was held at the Museum of Modern Art in Ljubljana.

References

Slovenian male painters Slovenian landscape painters Portrait painters 20th-century Slovenian illustrators Artists from Kranj 1913 births 1967 deaths Levstik Award laureates Prešeren Award laureates Jakopič Award laureates Academy of Fine Arts, University of Zagreb alumni 20th-century Slovenian painters 20th-century Slovenian male artists {{slovenia-artist-stub